Happy 130th Birthday, Zagreb Photo Club

Zagreb has dozens of museums and galleries, but as yet no National Museum of Photography. Thank goodness the Zagreb Photo Club formed 130 years ago to pick up the slack. Today, it has the largest collection of Croatian photography (over 10,000 images digitized) and is protected as a National Heritage. It is also the oldest non-profit photography group in the region.

Fotoklub Zagreb is the oldest non-profit photography organization in this part of Europe, founded way back in 1892. As various photographers rose to prominence, the group collected prints from Tošo Dabac, Mladen Grčević, Milan Fizi, Milan and Slavka Pavić, Marija Brau, and others. It organizes about 20 exhibitions per year, as well as various courses, lectures, workshops, and photo excursions. It develops international partnerships with the intention of creating joint exhibitions and projects. Affiliates come from Australia, China, Korea, Japan, Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Finland, Sweden.

In 1973, member Slavka Pavić, created the Women’s Division, which schedules an exhibition by female photographers to celebrate International Women’s Day. She recently won the Vladimir Nazol Lifetime Achievement Award at Fine and Applied Arts award for over 70 years of work in photography.

Skok grofa Erdodyja (Jump of Count Erdody), Karlo Drašković,1895 from the Zagreb Photo Club website. One of the oldest prints in their archives.